we will tell you this morning about their nightmare and the horrific conditions they endured on board this boat, "triumph," just over my shoulder. plus an olympic champion breaks down in court. and big development. blade runner, oscar pistorius, charged with premeditated murder. and a meteor shower brings down glass injuring over 500 people. the latest on the fireball from the skies. live from russia, coming up. a lot going on for you on this friday morning. friday, february 15th, a special edition of "starting point" begins right now. good morning, thank you so much for being with us. the cruise nightmare is nearing ab end this morning. as thousands of people finally begin their journey home.

. >> what a journey. we're in mobile just in front of the carnival cruiseline "triumph." hours ago this cruise pushed by those four tug boats making sure this thing was in line as it pulled here in mobile. a steady stream of more than 4,000 people, finally got off. all relieved to be off the listing, the stinking ship after enduring brutal conditions here for five long days. it was the sound passengers waited five agonizing days for, the horn, signaling the carnival "triumph" had finally arrived in port. cheers ending days of misery. >> happy to be home. >> wonderful to be home. >> passengers headed to a hot shower and warm bed. leaving their well documents vacation from hell behind.

many heaping praise on the cruise in the process. >> they served us with smiles and served us in ways that are truly unthinkable. >> as unthinkable as this the now infamous red bags used in place of nonworking toilets. but nothing compared to this video, that squishy sound is a urine-soaked carpet. some of the scenes looked like refugee camps, with makeshift beds set up anywhere there was fresh air. in halls, on deck, even by the pool. and then there were the food lines and the spa gattii tangle of cell phone cords and as the ship came into sight from a cnn helicopter, a call for help, an sos and the most heart warming scene of the trip, a valentine, fashioned out of life vests. as they finally left their nightmare behind, some took a souvenir. >> sorry, carnival for taking your bathrobe, i did not pay for this, but figured they owed me.

>> and ready seem ready to do it again, at least someday. >> i'm going to keep my feet on land for a little while. but if you get a free seven-day cruise, how can you pass that up, right? >> now, as part of the competition, because we thank ceo went out and apologized. they are offering hotel rooms so they could get a good night sleep before they go home. carnival cruiselines booked the entire holiday inn in mobile, alabama, for many weary passengers to stay the night before heading home and that's where we find victor blackwell, that hotel. i was leaving my hotel room a couple of hours ago. a lot of crew members leaving. they were relieved. i can only imagine how passengers feel. >> reporter: about 25 minutes ago, a busful of crew members

come here. we have been ---ist an early morning. late night. barry moodie who manages the windgate. what was the reaction of cruise memb members? >> they looked like they wanted to get a shower, food, and go to bed. >> reporter: everything we heard, the crew was extraordinary. there is something special that you are doing for the crew members because they were special to the passengers. >> what we did, normally our breakfast starts at 6:00 a.m., because we knew they were coming, we got our crew here early and we were already with hot food for them since 4:00 a.m. this morning. >> reporter: hot food, hot showers, warm beds, and we know there are more buses en route here. about 130 rooms between the two

hotels. thank you very much. and i'm sure the crew members and passengers are grateful as well. brooke. >> let's talk to some of those passengers. victor blackwell, thank you very much. amazing stories out here, but this is one that might take the cake. talk about bachelorette parties. this was supposed to be a bachelorette party for crystal roderick here. she is about to get married, congratulations. almost to kyle, bethany and her husband are also joining us. we keep hearing stories. good morning, first of all. is it good morning, good evening, have we slept? >> it all runs together. >> it all runs together. let me ask you, since you are the one about to get hitched. is there a bachelorette do over party in your future? >> i would say yes. >> it won't be on a boat. >> you will ever be on a boat again? >> probably not. >> probably not. let's begin with all of the different tough, tough parts of

the very long five days, was it the smoke you saw on sunday? was that the low point for you? or something worse? >> i think it was going the entire time like all day sunday and hearing different rumors spreading around the boat, not having the coast guard there. >> the uncertainty. >> you get scared. you get scared and not having lights. it gets dark at night. you don't know how dark it's going to get. you don't know how dark it will get. >> the uncertainty of what specifically? >> we were -- if we were going to get home, if we would make it off the boat. the boat was leaning, they weren't telling us exactly what was going on. they just said we had a situation that was under control. so we were just waiting in limbo for hours, just, you know, trying to figure out piece by piece what was going on. >> i have to tell you, your tone is so different this morning than when we chatted yesterday on my show. you were upbeat, optimistic. is it exhaustion? reality sinking in you can never get the five days back? >> a lot of exhaustion.

up there we were pumped with anxiety. getting off. and now it's like back to reality and just hitting the exhaustion, the tire edness, the relation inflation of what just happened. so it's all -- i don't know. it feels like we were on there for months. >> kyle, your dear fiancee on this boat, how worried were you? >> i was worried after monday's call and not getting a call for three days, kind of worried me a lot more. the last time we spoke was on monday and i got to speak to her again on thursday, and the time delay between being able to talk to her, see what's really going on, is what hurt me the most. we were just sitting at home, just like everybody else. >> what were you thinking was happening. >> i knew somebody had it under control, but we didn't know what was going on. first they wanted to take them to mexico, then bringing here. waiting to hear answers of what was really going on is what bothered me the most. >> we know the ceo of carnival

got on board at some point to say this in person apology. have you been specifically very is irked by carnival. is the apology enough? >> i don't think so. they never got it powered until the trip pretty much ended. brought in generators the last day of the voyage. why couldn't they get them sooner? they were in the dark, all of that. dom in, the lights are all on and stuff, it's like why didn't you do that a little sooner? they were having good food the last day on there. why couldn't they have good food throughout the trip? they could have gotten generators to there. they got coast guard and tug boats and all that out there. >> a lot of valid questions, and i'm seeing you shake your head. a lot of people not okay with the apology from the ceo. a little later, we'll talk about if there is legal resource. a lot of fine print when you get

on a cruise. we'll talk about that later. good luck with your noncruising bachelor party 2.0. my thanks to all of you, and i hope you can get home safely and soundly and catch up on sleep. thank you all very much. what an ordeal, john berman. can you imagine? >> i cannot. what an ordeal indeed. everyone else sleeping, some really big news overnight. a meteor shower injuring at least 500 people. this is not a movie, folks. witnesses in russia's ural mountains report hearing and feeling a powerful blast from above, followed by bright, burning objects falling from the sky. amazing pictures, buildings shook, cell phone service interrupted. most injuries caused by broken glass. 22 people right now still in the hospital. and if that is not enough, an asteroid headed to earth at this very hour. no worries, though. scientists are sure this one will not hit us, the 150-foot wide space rock known as 2012

d.a. 14, expected to come within 17,200 miles within our plan let afternoon. the space rock not visible to the naked eye. best time to see it with a telescope is 2:40 eastern this afternoon. it will travel over the indian ocean at 18,000 miles per hour. oscar pistorius broke down in a pretoria courtroom a short while ago as murder charges against him announced. this stunning development in the case. pistorius, known as blade runner, was charged with premeditated murder in the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, model reeva steenkamp. a bail hearing postponed until next tuesday. he remains in custody right now in a few minutes, we'll hear from a cnn reporter in the courtroom today in pretoria. just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in. we're talking about leon panetta.

he will remain on the job for defense secretary a little while longer. senate republicans have there aed a vote on chuck hagel to replace him for another ten days, using an unprecedented filibuster. unprecedented for defense nominee. president obama says they are putting politics ahead of national security. >> i'm still presiding over a war in afghanistan and need a secretary of defense who is coordinating with allies to make sure our troops are getting the kind of strategy and mission they deserve. >> mean tooil, the president returns home to chicago today for the last in a series of campaign style events. this week they are focused for plans on the economy and education that he outlined in the state of the union address. gun violence also on the agenda when the president speaks to a chicago high school. dan lothian live at the white house with a preview. homecoming of sorts, dan. >> the president will be speaking at hyde park academy, and as you pointed out, the main focus will be the economy.

but the president will be talking about gun violence in a city that last year had almost 2500 shootings and more than 500 murders, and, of course, you have the high-profile murder of 15-year-old hadiya pendleton, whose parents attended the state of the union address. the president will talk about creating economic opportunities, so that young people will not turn to a life of crime. but he al also continue to put pressure on congress to take action. such as the universal background checks or the ban on some assault weapons and those high capacity magazines, but there is great resistance from gun rights groups like the nra who are concerned about their second amendment rights, they believe that officials need to start enforcing existing laws instead of creating new ones. john. >> all right. thanks a lot, dan lothian at the white house. no comment from the white house this morning on a verbal blast from nra leader wayne la pierre who accuses the president of

exploiting the sandy hook tragedy. la pierre says gun rights activists won't take this lying down. >> mr. president, we will stand and fight throughout this country as americans for all freedom. we promise you that. >> so in an op-ed yesterday, la pierre said it's not paranoia to buy a gun. he calls it survival. no doubt about it now, the charred human remains found in a burned-out condo are christopher dorner's. dental records confirm what official s believed. the manhunt ended the tuesday with a shoot-out and fire in the mountains. breaking down in court. crying and shaking uncontrollably. new overnight, oscar pistorius appears before a judge, and the charges of murder just got worse for him.

we'll go live to south africa next. how does a food fight send five people to the hospital? to the hospital, folks? the chaos that erupted in a high school cafeteria, that coming up too. [ female announcer ] ready to mix things up with lean cuisine? try our entrees, snacks and new salads. wild salmon with basil, garlic chicken spring rolls, and now salads, like asian-style chicken. enjoy 100 delicious varieties under 400 calories. lean cuisine.

you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter. and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. a hybrid? most are just no fun to drive. now, here's one that will make you feel alive. meet the five-passenger ford c-max hybrid. c-max says ha.

c-max says wheeee. which is what you get, don't you see? cause c-max has lots more horsepower than prius v, a hybrid that c-max also bests in mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. a stunning development this morning. olympic blade runner, charged with premeditated murder in the murder of his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. he broke down as he was being charged. he will remain in jail until a bail hearing set for next tuesday. reminder, he is a major international star, even bigger star in south africa. cnn was in the courtroom as charges against pistorius were being read. must have been stunning to see.

>> reporter: absolutely. i'm outside the courtroom now. and oscar's brother walked past us, tears in his eyes. walking with the legal team. this family very much in shock. of course, also reeva steenkamp, the girl shot by oscar, also said to be deeply distraught by the events. what happened inside this courtroom this morning, very emotional. very upsetting for everybody who watched it. oscar pistorius, a spectacular fall from grace, wearing a gray suit, walked from the holding cell into court, and whether the charge was read out, he literally broke down, he buried his head in his hand and just started sobbing uncontrollably. later on as the proceedings went on, as the magistrate spoke to the prosecutor and to the defense, oscar just sat there, his head bowed and trying to control himself physically, but you could see his body was still shaking uncontrollably.

he occasionally just started crying, sometimes you could see he was praying to himself. i mean this is a man who is really coming to terms with the enormity with what is facing him and how much he's lost. >> again, the big news this morning, not just charged with murder, but charged with premeditated murder. one of the other things so interesting about the case, police mentioning previous incidents of a domestic nature. what more do we know about that, robin? >> reporter: they hinted at that in a press conference, just the other day. now, there have been -- there was another incident in 2009, where a woman later charged with assault against oscar, that was thrown out of court for lack of evidence, and oscar himself told me after that incident that this had deputy a drunk lady who tried to get into his house. he closed the door. and a piece of the door had fallen on her. whether that is the only evidence in terms of a domestic incident that the police have or

whether they think that there are other circumstances that could add to their case, clearly they do, because they are feeling confident that they can charge him with premeditated murder. they feel they have a strong case against him, which is, of course, is really bad news for those who support oscar pistorius. >> reports are neighbors saying shouts in the house before the shooting happened, a day and a half ago. robin curnow, thank you very much. the "triumph" cruise from hell is over. but now, is an apology enough, or more trouble on the way for carnival? big changes for people carrying around pot in new york city. why police are getting a bit more lenient.

many cereals say they're good for your heart, but did you know there's a cereal that's recommended by doctors? it's post shredded wheat. recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient: one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. try adding fruit for more health benefits and more taste in your bowl. it's the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. try post shredded wheat. this has been medifacts for post shredded wheat.

executor of efficiency. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro.

welcome back to "starting point." brand new, a joyous event at the san francisco zoo. a sumatran tiger has given birth to a cub. the tiger is considered a critically endangered subspecies. as few as 400 thought to be living in the wild. the cub thought to be healthy and mother and baby bonding right now. that's very nice. new jersey senator frank lautenberg will not seek re-election next year for a sixth term. at 89, he's the oldest current senator and last remaining world war ii veteran. he opens the door for newark mayor cory booker who wants to run for the seat next year. john allen says despite criticism, the redskins don't plan to change their nickname. necessity see nothing ochbtive about the nickname.

let's go to christine with business news. a critical moment for carnival management. how well will it manage its public image. gerry cahill quick to apologize. i can assure you, there was an apology. it wasn't just that. all right. carnival offering refunds, cash, a flight home, credit on a future trip, kahlil said he went on the ship to personally apologize to apparentlies as well. cahill's pay package, 3.7 million in 2011. he will earn every penny. wall street taking it in stride. analyst list s aren't too worri. they think people will keep booking cruises this is one of the most affordable ways for a lot of families to go on a trip like this as for possible

lawsuits, carnival customers, they sign a host of waivers, including one that may be a class action suit. dow within shouting distance of an all-time high. can't get there, mostly because of concerns about the economy. most s & p companies that have reported earnings have beaten expectations but report the weak outlooks. airbus is ditching plans to use lithium ion bat rosie. that's the one used in boeing's dreamliners, which are all grounded after a series of electrical issues, investigators haven't figured out the primary cause of the problem, but airbus not taking problems. >> it will be interesting to see if boeing abandons those batteries. thank you very much. overnight meteor shower rains down, shattering glass, injuring 500 people. amazing video and new developments on the fireball from the skies.

live from russia. people from the cruise ship back on land, do they have grounds to sue? we'll talk to a maritime legal expert next. more than 300 people involved in a food fight, a food fight, that sent students and teachers to the hospital. what caused this riot? that next. but we can still help you see your big picture. with the fidelity guided portfolio summary, you choose which accounts to track and use fidelity's analytics to spot trends, gain insights, and figure out what you want to do next. all in one place. i'm meredith stoddard and i helped create the fidelity guided portfolio summary. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account.

capella university understands bright students are getting lost in the shuffle. need. and administration's work gets more complex every year. when you look at these issues, do you see problems or opportunities? with an advanced degree in education from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to meet these challenges and make a difference in the lives of students. let's get started at capella.edu.

new, developing story overnight. amazing pictures as a meteor shower injuring 500 people when if flew through the sky in russia's ural mountain region. there was a powerful blast from overhead, followed by bright, burning objects falling. phil black live from moscow. phil, what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, john, through the morning, the amount of people injured during the few, terrifying moments has been climbing steadily.

the official numbers from the government say more than 500 people have requested medical assistance as a result of meteor as it struck the aefrt's atmosphere. some reports from the region put that number at more than 700 now, but certainly the number is still climbing. there are dozens who have been treated in hospital. and within that, a small number of people whose situation and health is said to be grave. most people, though, have just received cuts and scratches from flying glass. the glass that shattered as this large meteor struck the earth's atmosphere, breaking up across a wide area and resulting in a serious of sonic booms or shock waves that really shook a vast area, just within this few terrifying seconds, resulted in all of these injuries, but no substantial or structural damage reported. just broken glass. but a lot of certainly rattled nerves. big cleanup operation underway

in the region, about a four-hour flight east of moscow. >> i understand why there are rattled nerves. the pictures so foreign from anything most of us have seen. the other big story. triumph, cruise ship now in port. brooke baldwin in mobile, alabama, for the latest on that. >> reporter: hey, berman. the sun is rising, get a good being long look at the true ump over my left shoulder. upper 30s, low every 40s, talking to passengers walking around in flip-flops, mind you, th are chilly, but they are thrilled to be home after a nightmare cruise vacation. >> good to be back on solid ground. a good three-day cruise and a bad four-day camping trip. >> after being on the boat that long and not knowing when or how we're getting back, so good to finally be back. >> you really don't realize how

fortunate we are to have a flushing toilet, running clean water and water to drink. >> reporter: they are so grateful, because for the past five days, they have had to endure some pretty horrific repugnant disgusting conditions. you figure out your adjective this morning. you know what we are. we've been talking about them all week. forgive me if you are eating your wheaties. urine-soaked carpets. food running out. rooms that smelled so bad inside this cruise, people were forced to sleep, dragging sheets and mattresses, into the hallways and the decks. one woman i talked to, sleeping in the dining area. supposed to be a dream vacation looked a lot more like a refugee camp. let's be clear. the cruiseline is owning up to what happened. the ceo went on board last night to personally apologize, and the 4,000 plus people and they are

offering compensation for passengers on board. $500, expenses paid. these are makeshift cell charging towers that passengers were able to rig in the last 24 to 4 hours. part of the compensation from carnival is a hotel room for the night. some of the passengers from this crippled ship in mobile, they are waking up two hours away in new orleans this morning. they have been put up in hotels there by the cruiseline. let's go to new orleans, to brian todd for us live this morning. i suppose this was a long night for them on buses, brian todd, but i suppose dry land feels amazing. >> >>. >> reporter: about half of them are exhausted andle shell shocked. some of them are giddy. they have had a chance to get cleaned up. buses have been rolling in here for the last 4 1/2, 5 hours.

people getting cleaned up and getting right back on the buses. some electing to stay for the day and night to rest. have you described the conditions on board. we're hearing story after story about what people had to go through. you just described them. the sewage and all of that. the food. some of them had medical conditions they had to deal with that were already existent when they got on board the vessel. more than a week ago. i spoke with a woman named joyce glover, an elderly woman in a wheelcha wheelchair. >> well, i have congestive heart failure and diabetes and i had to cut my medicine in half, because i only had it through monday and then i had a heart condition, where my lungs were filling up with fluid so we had to go clear down to the basement. >> reporter: and it was at the basement where she says she had to go to get medical care, in that area, she says garbage was piled high, 30 or 40 feet.

joyce glover and every other passenger we talked to had serious praise for the crew. they did everything they had toto take care of them. they tried to keep the place clean as they could. crew getting very high praise this morning. >> high praise for the crew. not so much for carnival. brian todd, thank you so much. john berman, back to you. i was leaving my hotel right around 4:30 local time this morning, and long lines. these crew members, young, young. i was surprised. young 20s, some of these folks waiters, telling us, you know, if we think it was bad for the passengers, it sounds a lot worse for them. and finally, hear about the smell. i can't smell anything standing this close, but i had take their word for them. >> crew, giant heroes, hats off to them.

what next for the thousands of passengers stuck on the cruise ship? from a legal standpoint, dollars and cents standpoint. we'll bring in a maritime lawyer who specializes in cruiseline liability. we heard just awful stories. passengers headed home. what kind of legal recourse do they have? how liable is carnival? >> that is the 64,000 question. >> or more. >> exactly. this is governed by two things, carnival's liability is governed by two things, one is the maritime law and two is the ticket. everybody talked about the cruise ticket conditions. i think in a case where there are mental anguish damages only, you are going to have two things to recover and i think you have them here. one is negligence of carnival, we can go through the negligence from the fire itself, suppression of the fire, their reaction afterward, not getting the -- you know, generateors on board in time. not getting good food.

all of a sudden, you know, they get close to the port and they get good food. there are a lot of questions there. negligence of carnival. number two, you have to have the risk of an exposing the passengers to the risk of actual physical injury, and they have been exposed with exposure to sewage, raw sewage, we've seen films on cnn, we've seen video of the carpets soaked with sewage and that's exposing people to hepatitis a and to a host like seven or eight or nine other infectious diseases. >> but exposure is not enough. you have to be injured in some way, correct? >> no. in order to recover for mental anguish. >> mental anguish. >> in order to recover for mental anguish without physical injury, you have to have those two things. the question, the question is, which is not terribly resolved in the case law, okay. the question is, is exposure to a disease like that the -- the

exposure to physical injury? >> the carnival ticket says the cruiseline is not reliable for mental stress, anguish, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. there must be an actual injury. when you sign that ticket, how much of your rights to a class action suit are signed away? >> a couple of questions here. first of all, you don't sign anything. people, they can get it through the internet, click the i agree. how many people ever read one word of the i agrees? before they click on that? nobody. and second of all, there is a clause -- that's what the ticket says, but if you read down, it does provide, because there is a federal statute, it does provide for mental anguish only damages, and you have to read it like five or six times before you understand anything about it, and i've been doing this as a maritime attorney for 32 years, and i still, even with this

thing, i had to go back and read it several times. >> about the crew, i just want to make a point. these are not governed by u.s. labor laws, you talk about the extra hours and the like, it's up to carnival and maritime law to decide what kind of compensation the crew gets for the time and energy and extra time, because they are not governed by u.s. labor law. >> there is a lot of murky law here, that the case? >> to use a maritime expression, yes. some murky law with regard to their compensation. you know, this is not -- we're not talking about millions of dollars. and in the case of somebody who was just in convenienced, and i'm not trying to downplay the conditions on board by any means, because i think they were horrible, horrendous, but, you know, in those circumstances, you know, you've got to -- you got to consider, well, is it worth bringing a lawsuit against carnival in federal court in miami, florida, for that level of damages? >> all right. thank you very much. great to see you. a lot of legal questions.

>> christine. a city mayor losing nearly a billion dollars -- yes, a difficult billion dollars at the casino former san diego mayor maureen o'conner is destitute after gambling in california and las vegas. her husband, jack in the box founder, had earmarked the money for terrorism. a possible murder plot foiled. two fifth grade boys that showed up with a gun, ammo clip and a knife. authorities in coleville, washington, an hour from spokane said one boy planned to stab a female classmate. the girl picked on them. they allegedly wanted to lure six other students away from school and kill them. but another student tipped off a school employee.

one boy stole the gun from his brother who stole it from their deceased grandmother's home. in new york city, people with small amounts of marijuana will not be taken to jail. instead, they will be given a ticket and court date. this will free up police resources. at least five students and teachers taken to a hospital after a food fight at a minneapolis high school turned into a full on brawl. as many as 300 involved in the lunchroom mele. teachers and school security tried to stop it. >> it sounds like something that is humorous, a food fight, but this is serious. ahead on "starting point," a close encounter of the asteroid coined.

150-foot wide space rock flying by the earth at this hour. will it have any effect on you or your cell phone service? i love making money. i try to be smart with my investments. i also try to keep my costs down. what's your plan? ishares. low cost and tax efficient. find out why nine out of ten large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal.

all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it.

siemens. answers. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. and make your business dream a reality. new griddle-melts to yourime usual breakfast sandwich. a lot more flavor. [ anouncer ] ihop's new griddle melts... made fresh and hot! hand crafted just for you. it's like a sexy sandwich. [ anouncer ] compare new griddle melts yourself. just $4.99. it's an epic breakfast sandwich. something this delicious could only come from nature. new nectresse. the 100% natural no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit.

new nectresse. sweetness naturally. this just in. new reports from reuter's that oscar pistorius will dispute the murder charge against him. he broke down in court, facing premeditated murder charges in the killing of his girlfriend. with that and other stories, joe carter with the bleacher report. >> our cnn reporter in the courtroom this morning said oscar pistorius got very emotional, broke down in tears and his entire body shook uncontrollably and sobbed when murder charges were read out load. according to several reports, pistorius shot his girlfriend four times through a bathroom door at his home in south africa. pistorius has previously faced allegations of a domestic nature. steenkamp, a former model, has a

reality tv show debuting this weekend on south african television. pistorius is in kud custody, where he will remain until his bail hearing on tuesday. prosecutors will argue that pistorius committed premeditated murder. kevin durant, and lebron james, arguing the two best players in the nba, leading two of the best teams. lebron scored 39 points. failed to shoot over 60%, which means his nba record comes to an end. miami won by ten. they have beaten the thunder six straight times. after the game, lebron talked about his record coming to an end. >> all good things have to come to an end at some point. a good run, we got the win tonight and that's the most important. >> this is a good one to end on. the lpga australian open, delayed by what else?

kangaroos, dozens of them bounced up and down the fairway. play stopped for a short time. seeing all the kangaroos got us thinking. what if one picked up a player's ball? that player would not be penalized, because kangaroos are not part of the course. for more entertaining sports news, go to bleacherreport.com. this is the same course, john, yesterday, the player was bitten by the black widow spider, daniela holmquist. and then the kangaroos. it's the wild west out there. >> wild kingdom. thank you very much. our first look at an asteroid heading our way right now. plus, new overnight, a meteor shower rains down on russia. what on earth is going on in the skies right now? bill nye the science guy will explain, coming up next. omnipo. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national.

because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro.

yes, you could. how do you keep an older car running like new? you ask a ford customer. when they tell you that you need your oil changed you got to bring it in. if your tires need to be rotated, you have to get that done as well. jackie, tell me why somebody should bring they're car here to the ford dealership for service instead of any one of those other places out there. they are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. price is right no problem, they make you feel like you're a family. get a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation and much more, $29.95 after $10.00 rebate. if you take care of your car your car will take care of you.

welcome back, everyone. while you were sleeping a meetor shower causing a massive blast and injuring people. it broke off, causing burning fragments to fall off. that's not all. also a 150-mile, foot-wide asteroid heading for earth. here's an image of the asteroid from nasa when it was more than 450,000 miles from earth. tom foreman has the details on how close it will get. >> let's get reference points. we talk about the earth many of us like to think the moon is close to us but the moon is not as close as you think. it's almost a quarter million miles away so what is close in space in satellites, we've been launching these for decades and

filled the sky. some are fairly low, others quite high. the highest are communications and gps satellites, about 22,000 miles up in the air. where is this asteroid going to be? it is going to shoot out of the sky and cut right through the top of the satellite belt, at about 17,000 miles. >> an awful lot going on in the skies right now so we're joined by bill nye the science guy, is he in los angeles. bill, the meteor shower in russia, the ast noid some 17,000 miles away, i think everyone really has two questions here, first of all, is there a connection here and is there a difference between a meteor shower and an asteroid? help us out. >> oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. so there's no connection in a sense they're independent orbits but there's a connection in the sense they're both pry mordial objects in the solar and earth's

orbits. meteor refers to the bright streak in the sky so an object in space doesn't become a meteor until it starts burning up in the atmosphere. it's interesting these things would happen in the same day. they're independent objects yet the earth passes through about 100,000 of these things. the earth's orbit crosses the orbit of about 100,000 of these things every year. we know about 1% of them so understand everybody that this 45-meter object, 150-foot could be object, that would descritro city, but this time it will not hit anything. there's a lot of space in space. >> you're talking about the asteroid right now which again is coming some 17,000 miles away. >> yes. >> so 70,000 miles is closer

than geosynchronous satellites. if you have binoculars at sunset and you're very skilled you might get a glimpse of it. we found this object because the planetary society supports astronomers around the world who are specially skilled at looking for these relatively small, relatively fast moving objects. >> okay, bill. >> we are the first generation of humans that could do something about it. >> bill, what do we learn from this meteor shower in russia, which has caused some damage in more than 500 injuries. what does that tell us about what we need to look out for. >> let me ask you this, you know this expression if you jump off a bridge it doesn't make any difference, the water is going to act like concrete at some high bridge. have you ever heard this expression? >> sure. >> no matter what you do with

your hands or point your toes it will still get you. well these meteoric objects that hit in the russian, above russia last night or yesterday russian time were destroyed by the earth's atmosphere. the atmosphere acts like concrete. wham! and it disintegrates immediately. the stuff, even if it's metal or solid rock, it burns in the earth's oxygen like that, and this for example the 2012 da14 is several dozen times bigger than the nuclear weapons used to end world war ii. >> all right. >> so we only know about 1% of them. there's 100,000 more of them out there that we don't really know where they go and how they cross the earth's orbit and so it's quite a concern if you're a thinking person. science fiction stories have been written about this for good reason. so today by the way the

planetary site will have a webcast if you want to check us out around 11:00 pacific time and we'll have the experts from nasa and the experts from jet propulsion lab along with our guys. >> bill nye science guy thanks very much. we'll all be looking especially after what we've seen in russia with the meteor shower. bottom line the asteroid not a threat, still more than 500 people in russia from a separate incident with meteors earlier today. thanks a lot, bill nye in los angeles. new images just into cnn of olympian superstar oscar pistorius breaking down in court, hearing he will be charged, hearing he'll be charged with premeditated murder in the killing of his girlfriend. we'll have the latest developments at the top of the hour. they are literally kissing the ground with joy to be back on land. all the passengers finally off the cruise ship "triumph" and heading home this morning. we'll speak with several of them coming up live from mobile, alabama. stay with us. the patient, presented with

a hairline fracture to the mandible and contusions to the metacarpus. what do you see? um, i see a duck. be more specific. i see the aflac duck. i see the aflac duck out of work and not making any money. i see him moving in with his parents and selling bootleg dvds out of the back of a van. dude, that's your life. remember, aflac will give him cash to help cover his rent, car payments and keep everything as normal as possible. i see lunch. [ monitor beeping ] let's move on. [ male announcer ] find out what a hospital stay could really cost you at aflac.com. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train.

this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ good morning everyone. i'm john berman opinion incredible pictures from overnight, a meetor shower resembles fireballs raining down on russia, shattering glass, 500 people, maybe more are hurt. we'll have a live report in a few moments. plus an olympic champion charged with murdering his girlfriend, he breaks down crying and shaking in court. we have a brand new images and the bombshell, he'll be charged

with premeditated murder. and good morning, i'm brooke baldwin live in mobile, alabama. count them 4,229 passengers and crew now slowly making their way home, after their cruise vacation turned horrendous, hear what they had to endure these last long five days. coming up, it is friday, february 15th. we have a special edition of "starting point" beginning right now. welcome back, everyone. while you slept, so much went on. new this morning, a flash of light followed by a powerful blast, that's how witnesses are describing a spectacular meteor shower in southern russia, spectacular to look at, but it injured some 500 people, nearly two dozen of them had to be sent to the hospital. most of the injuries caused by broken glass. the blast shattering windows,

interrupting cell phone service and setting off car alarms for miles in the ural mountain region. coming up a live report from moscow with the details just developing as of this minute. a also just in to cnn, new images of blade runner oscar pistorius breaking down in a south african courtroom as he was being charged with premeditated murder in the death of his girlfriend, model reeva steenkamp. bail hearing for pistorius has been postponed until next tuesday. he remains in custody right now. prosecutors are expected to argue the murder charge, pistorius says he will fight the murder charge. steenkamp was shot four times early thursday morning at pistorius' home in pretoria, a suburb outside of johannesburg, not a suburb. pistorius made history when he competed in the 2012 summer games in london. he won a silver medal as part of the south african relay team.

brooke? >> i recognize you. >> it's still warm. >> hey brooke. >> reporter: thank you, i'm brooke baldwin in mobile, hours ago the infamous "triumph" behind me here was pushed into port by four different tugboats, remember at one point the line snapped, they replaced it yesterday afternoon so now this steady stream of more than 4,000 people finally got off this boat, all very much so this morning relieved to be off this swaying, stinky ship. it was the sound passengers waited five agonizing days for, the horn signaling that carnival "triumph" had finally arrived in port. cheers, ending days of misery. >> happy to be home. >> wonderful to be home. >> reporter: passengers headed to a hot shower and warm bed, leaving their documented vacation from hell behind, many

heaping praise on the crew in the process. >> they served us with smiles and served us in ways that are truly unthinkable. >> as unthinkable as this, the infamous red bags used in place of non-working toilets. but nothing compared to this video that squishy sound is a urine-soaked carpet. some of the scenes looked like refugee camps with makeshift beds set up anywhere there was fresh air n halls, on deck, even by the pool, and then there were the food lines, and the spaghetti tangle of cell phone cords, and as the ship finally came into sight from a cnn respect, a call for help, an s.o.s., and the most heartwarming scene of the trip, a valentine fashioned out of life vests as they finally left their nightmare behind, some took a souvenir. >> sorry, carnival, for taking your bath robe. i did not pay for this, i

figured they owed me. >> reporter: many seemed ready to do it again, at least someday. >> i'm going to keep my feet on land for a little while. but if you get a free seven-day cruise, i mean, how can you pass that up, right? >> reporter: a lot of people aren't passing it up. as part of this whole compensation package from carnival, passengers were offered hotel rooms overnight so they could finally get a good night's sleep, get that warm shower that i know so many wanted before making their journey home and carnival cruise lines booked the entire holiday inn here in mobile, alabama, so let me go to victor blackwell, inside that hotel this morning. have you talked to passengers? have they slept? is it good morning, good evening? what are they telling you? >> reporter: well it's good to be back on land, that's what it is, whatever time of day it feels like, they're ready to get a hot shower and ready to get into bed. we have spoken with members of the carnival crew, the "triumph" crew pulled in, and we actually pulled one guy to the side, his

name is sachen sharma and he said this wasn't difficult at all. the first question i asked him, the passengers said over and over the crew was extraordinary. he said, it wasn't difficult. we tried. we're experienced guys. whatever came to us, we did for our passengers, and for our customers. so he says it wasn't difficult at all. at this holiday inn, and next door at the windgate there are about 130, 140 rooms booked for crew members, they're here for three nights. this one member of the team says they'll be here for three nights and possibly transferred to another ship and get back to work, but they're happy to have these three days of relaxation and then it's probably back to work. brooke? >> victor blackwell, thank you very much. i want to bring in a couple of people who you might recognize especially this bright yellow sweatshirt, kim mckerreghan and daughter ali, mary poret and

daughter rebekka. i totally recognize this yellow sweatshirt from cnn live and our helicopter on the ship and saw you on the tiptop deck. moms, relief? >> very much relief. >> relief. >> how late were you here last night waiting for the girls to get off the ship? >> 1:30. >> after the ship docked it took forever to get them off. over two hours. easy two hours to get off. they stood in the stairwell waiting. >> stood in a stairwell. describe the final hours, you were with your dads on the cruise, you're good friends. did you stick together? >> yes. >> of course. it was hard, because, like you didn't know when you were getting off and if you did know when you were getting off, you were waiting for it to come even more than if you didn't know. >> reporter: even if you didn't know. how did you girls pass the time? did you have enough magazines, card games, the last five days? >> card games. >> we played crazy eights like crazy. >> reporter: crazy eights like

crazy. describe the feeling of finally seeing them coming off the boat. >> relief, finally. we get to hold them. we've talked to them ever since they've gotten service, but just to have them and hold them, it's a relief. >> i have to play the moment because i have to admit my eyes were glued to cnn, we're working, ashleigh banfield live on tv, was it you on the phone, i recognized the yellow sweatshirt you were waving your hands above on the top deck. what was it finally like to talk to the girls, the cell phones, a lot of them weren't charged so you hadn't talked to the girls up until then. >> we had been bombarded with family and friends calling us every moment and you look at your phone you're like, it's not her. look again it's not her and i flipped over the phone and it was her name and picture, oh my god it's her! she's calling! she's calling! we got to talk and it was awesome and finally rebekka got to get through. everybody was getting through at the same time and mary is like

where is rebekka, why isn't she calling yet. rebekka came through two minutes later. it was the longest two minutes for her but shortest two minutes for me. it's been a great reunion. >> reporter: girls, how stinky was it? >> i started, i had this reaction i just wanted to vomit, like every second probably. >> like through the dining room there was just this stench when you passed the drinks because all the drainage was coming from the refrigerators and freezers, they got melted, to the side of the boat it was tilting on and when you walked by it was mushy and you just had this horrible smell in your throat that you couldn't get rid of. >> mooshy is a new adjective i am hearing about. heading back to school as you guys were supposed to be back on monday, and what are we now on friday. safe travels to you. john berman i'll send it back up to you in new york. how about that?

>> i love hearing from the mothers oh yes they'll be getting back to school. >> reporter: oh yes they will. more on the meteor shower burning up the skies while you all were sleeping. at least 500 people injured in russia this morning when the meteors burned through the atmosphere. phil black live in moscow, what is the latest? >> reporter: john this only lasted for a few seconds but the impact, the discussion has been so widespread and so dramatic, as you said, a number of people injured is now up around 500 or more, that is how many people russian government has said have requested medical assistance, we believe around 30 or so are in hospital, a smaller number, three or four we are told are still in grave condition. this is the result of what was a large meteor striking the earth's atmosphere around 9:20 time in the central russian location, fragmenting as it tore through the atmosphere at high

speed but it was not the meteor itself or the fragments which spread out over a wide area that caused the destruction and the damage, it was the sonic boom, the shock waves caused by this tearing through the atmosphere that has shattered so many windows and so many buildings and ultimately hurt so many people across a wide area. >> phil, i'm talking to christine romans and this looks like a movie, this looks so different than anything any of us have ever seen when we look up to the skies. is there any sense there was panic there as this was going on? >> reporter: if you look at a lot of the video that has come out of this region this morning, and there is a lot of it, because russians often have cameras installed in their cars. they caught the exact moment the bright flashes tearing through the sky. you can hear the panic, the shock particularly in the wake of those booms and shock waves that have struck people. you can hear the blast really

very loud and just the sound of broken glass everywhere, absolutely a terrifying few moments for these people who were going about their regular friday morning activities, school, work, home, driving, whatever else. they were not expecting this, and certainly when you look at those pictures, it looks a little armageddonish, sort of an expression we're hearing this morning describing those events and the videos we're seeing out of the region. >> phil black what a sight it is. thanks for being with us. dental records confirm the charred human remains found in the burned out condo in big bear, california, are christopher dorners. he was the fired los angeles cop accused of killing four people. authorities in san bernardino, california, did not say how dorner died. the rogue ex-cop's nine-day reign of terror ended tuesday during a shoot-out with officers in the mountains east of los angel angeles. an unprecedented republican filibuster means it will be at least another ten days before

the full senate gets to vote on chuck hagel to be defense secretary so as hagel waits in the wings the man he's supposed to replace, leon panetta who was all but out the door has to stay on a little bit longer. chief congressional correspondent dana bash is live on capitol hill. dana's reporting on this was an hour ahead of the senator. she knew what was happening before most of the senate on top of the story. dana, what is the latest? >> thanks, john. there was a lot of last-minute lobbying from the vice president himself. he still couldn't convince enough republicans to back off their filibuster of the president's defense secretary nominee. >> on this vote, the yeahs are 58, the nays are 40. >> reporter: it was a moment for the history books. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> reporter: chuck hagel fell short of the 60 votes needed to break a gop filibuster of his nomination to be defense secretary. only four republicans supported their former senate gop colleague. >> the filibuster of senator hagel's confirmation is unprecedented, i repeat, not a

single nominee for secretary of defense ever in the history of our country has been filibust filibustered, never, ever. >> reporter: republicans argued they need more time saying haguele is too controversial to be confirmed only days after getting through committee on a party line vote. >> the president has a right to appoint people in whom he has confidence, but we have a constitutional responsibility to consider the nominee. >> reporter: democrats see it another way, republicans are dragging their feet on hagel in order to look for more information to bring him down. >> let's not hide behind a filibuster. let's have the courage to vote yes or vote no. don't hide behind parliamentary tricks. >> reporter: the white house knew from day one hagel's confirmation would not be easy. controversial statements on israel, jews and gays, as well as his positions on iran and iraq put him in the cross-hairs of senators on both sides of the

aisle but mostly fellow republicans, and a widely panned performance at his confirmation hearing even by democrats didn't help. >> i -- uh -- misspoke and said i supported the president's position on containment. >> reporter: only in the last 48 hours did it become clear hagel did not have the votes to overcome a filibuster this week. >> senators have the right to have those questions answered. >> what happened was a handful of republican senators, including mccain, had promised not to support a filibuster and reversed themselves to go along with the majority of republicans who wanted to delay this. john, the idea is that there's going to be a vote already on the schedule about ten days from now, the idea is that he will be confirmed then, that's what many republican senators who voted no yesterday said they will vote yes then but we have seen this roller coaster and a lot of people out there are trying to dig up some new dirt to bring hagel down. >> dana, that's what the plan is but little has gone as planned.

dana bash in washington, nice to see you. >> you, too. president obama returns to his adopted hometown of chicago for the latest in a series of campaign style events promoting his second term agenda that includes gun control. the president will speak to high school students about guns and the need for tougher laws to curb the deadly violence that's been devastating chicago. up next, he is charged with murder, but oscar pistorius says he will fight the charge in the killing of his girlfriend as he breaks down in court. the legal case next with attorney mark geragos.

we're in san francisco. google's backyard for the bing it on challenge. [fight bell: ding, ding] what's your preferred search engine? search engine, uhh, probably google. if we do a side by side blind test comparison, and you end up choosing google, you get an xbox. i'll bet you the xbox, you bet me your son. well let's look up what you need. okay, i would do the left. yeah? what?! i am a daddy! bing wins it! bing won. bing did win. people prefer bing over google for the web's top searches. don't believe it? go to bingiton.com and see what you're missing. and i was told to call my next of kin. at 33 years old, i was having a heart attack. now i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i didn't know this could happen so young. take control, talk to your doctor.

so i used my citi thankyou card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? and with all the points i've been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot even on a holiday weekend. ♪ things are definitely looking up. [ male announcer ] with no blackout dates, you can use your citi thankyou points to travel whenever you want. visit citi.com/thankyoucards to apply.

new information just in to cnn that oscar pistorius will fight the premeditated murder charge against him. we have new imageless of the superstar olympian breaking down, crying in court this morning. he's accused of killing his girlfriend, model campbell brk steenkamp.

he will remain in jail until at least his new bail hearing which is next tuesday. mark geragos is a criminal defense attorney new book "mistrial" comes out in april. we know oscar pistorius will fight the premeditated murder charge. knowing what you know, as a defense attorney, what is the best way to go about doing appa tact if you believe what's out in the ether, he did not know it was her, thought it was an intruder, that's why she was shot and killed. that's the best case scenario. the worst case is that there say history of domestic violence, that the prosecutors are taking the position that this was premeditated, and that's precisely why, by the way, they put over the bail hearing because he's facing a life sentence. >> let's break that down into two parts. ned one of the things police said there had been an history

of domestic evidence. what does that mean? >> either the police have been called out there before or there's been some kind of a prior charge that's been filed involving domestic violence and assault or a battery, something of that nature. some kind of a fight or a history that would give the police the belief that it's going to escalate to a point where he would end up killing her. >> as a defense attorney is that the type of thing that makes your job more difficult? >> that's something you welcome with open arms. >> when we heard the news that just came in within the last couple hours that its prosecutors have decided to charge him with premeditated murder, again, when you heard that, what do you think they have to make that decision? >> i think they're probably basing it on the priors, because they figure there is a theory out there that is used in the criminal justice system that there's always an escalation or there can be an escalation of

the cycle of violence. so that's probably what they're basing it on, and the first reports that came out where he said initially he didn't know it was her, he was distraught, after he discovered it was her, he thought it was an intruder. there's going to be at least it sounds like some kind of self-defense or defense of habitation, mean that he thought it was a burglar, she came in, he mistook her for a burglar, that's why he fired, he never had any intent to kill her. if he had known it was her he never would have done it. that strikes me as the center or the core of his defense in this case. >> mark, you have defended a lot of famous people. oscar pistorius is a huge international star, and inside south africa it's even bigger, so what are the challenges defending someone who is quite frankly a mega star in your country? >> i've always said there say distinction between defending somebody who is famous and somebody who is infamous.

in this case is he fahe is famo. is he going to get a presumption of innocence, he will get the benefit of the doubt so this is somebody a defense lawyer will welcome defending in the sense that the public is not going to come here, pre-disposed to find him guilty. the public is going to come here with a kind of a predisposition, if you will that what he says is true, that this is somebody you want to help, this is somebody that you admire. those are all things that are extremely helpful from a defense standpoint, and those are the obstacles precisely that the prosecution has to face. >> mark geragos defense attorney thank you for being with us this morning. this is a shocking case, a fascinating case and also a tragic case for so many people in south africa. thanks for being with us. from life vests shaped as hearts or towels stating s.o.s., the cruiseship nightmare as passengers finally get to go home. he's been called a king

maker in hollywood, harvey weinstein is here live with his new film "escape from planet earth." you're crazy. go faster! go faster! go faster! go faster! no! stop...stop... (mom) i raised my son to be careful... hi, sweetie. hi, mom. (mom) but just to be safe... i got a subaru. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru.

music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to make meone happy.♪.♪it's so e ♪make just one heart to heart you - you sing to♪ ♪one smile that cheers you ♪one face that lights when it nears you.♪ ♪and you will be happy too.

welcome back everyone. you're looking live at the cruise ship "triumph" docked in mobile bay this morning. there are also powerful images coming out of this nightmare. passenger kendall jenkins literally kissing the ground after getting off the ship. these guys so happy to see land they draped "sweet home alabama" signs over the side as the passengers came in. these making a giant heart out of life vests and others made an s.o.s. sign out of pool towels.

plus the cruise's band, and the band played on. ♪ they're playing music to keep the sanity, those last excruciating hours before the ship finally docked. brooke? >> reporter: we are hearing from local officials they'll be moving this cruise ship to the other side of the channel in mobile at some point later today, that is when the cleaning process begins and when the fixing process begins but this is not the first time carnival cruise passengers have endured a nightmare. we'll look at the recent history and i'll talk to a couple, interviewed them back in 2010, do you remember the boat called "the splendor" lost power, hauntingly similar to the "triumph" here, had to be towed. has the company learned anything? we'll ask. >>. incredible pictures overnight, a meteor shower resembling fireballs raining down on russia, shattering glass, about 500 people hurt. we'll have a live report in just a few moments. [ woman ] we had two tiny reasons

to get our adt security system. and one really big reason -- the house next door. our neighbor's house was broken into. luckily, her family wasn't there, but what if this happened here? what if our girls were home? and since we can't monitor everything 24/7, we got someone who could. adt. [ male announcer ] while some companies are new to home security, adt has been helping to save lives for over 135 years. we have more monitoring centers, more of tomorrow's technology right here today, and more value. 24/7 monitoring against burglary, fire, and high levels of carbon monoxide starting at just over $1 a day.

and now get adt installed for just $99. isn't your family worth america's number-one security company, adt? our girls got us thinking, but the break-in got us calling. and after buying two of everything, it was nice to only need one security system -- adt. [ male announcer ] get adt installed for just $99. and ask about adt pulse, advanced home management here today. adt. always there.

welcome back everyone. spectacular new pictures of a rare and frankly dangerous

meteor shower, this happened in the ural mountain region of russia. witnesses reported feeling and healing a powerful past followed by bright burning objects calling from the sky. 500 people injured and nearly two dozen treated at the hospital mostly from broken glass. car alarms went off, the buildings shook, cell phone services interrupted. there was other big news with the cruise ship "triumph" finally reaching shore. brooke baldwin in mobile, alabama. hey, brooke. >> reporter: i'm hoping as we speak, john berman, a lot of people are safe and sound and finally got that fresh, hot shower they were so yearning for after they got off "triumph" around 1:30 a.m. local time. thousands of those passengers, they're now either sleeping or en route back home after enduring what was a gruelling and if i may, gross process of being pulled into shore on board this cruise ship. earlier i talked with the passengers who said it was the exhaustion from what they went

through, it's finally settling in today. >> you know up there, we were pulled with anxiety, we're getting off and now back to reality and just hitting the exhaust exhaustion, the tiredness, the realization what just happened so it's all -- i don't know, it just feels like we were on there for months. >> reporter: forgive me if you're eating breakfast but they are describing the urine-soaked carpets, the dwindling food supplies, it smelled so bad people had to pull the mattresses and pull the sheets into the decks and hallways just to get away from the stench. the cruise line, let's be clear, owning up to what happened and offering compensation. this is what the carnival ceo gerry cahill said. >> i know the conditions on board were very poor.

i know it was very difficult and i want to apologize again for subjecting our guests to that. we pride ourselves in providing our guests with a great vacation experience and clearly we failed in this particular case. >> reporter: part of the compensation package from carnival is hotel rooms for the night, some of those passengers are waking up either here in mobile, some of them waking up in new orleans as they're making their way back home wherever home may be. brian todd is live in new orleans having talked to some of these people and i imagine, i love the pictures of them kissing dry land. they are elated to be off this off. >> reporter: they are just so grateful to be here, brooke. some are in shell shocked exhaustion, others giddy with relief, all grateful to be on dry land. the buses have been rolling here all morning from mobile, alabama, some of them rolling back out now. some of the passengers electing

to stay for a couple of hours to get cleaned up and heading back on the buses to go to new orleans, to the airport here or to texas straight on the bus, back to galveston where they left their cars. for some of them the emotion what have they went through is setting in now and one of those people is a passenger named maria morales. i spoke to her a short time ago and it was really just then that the enormity of what happened was just setting in. take a listen. >> we were just drifting. we were just out there, and now that i realize it, it's like oh my god, you know, i can't believe that we were just there, just at the mercy of the wind, wherever it wanted to take us. >> reporter: others were telling some of the stories you just relaid, brooke, of the bad conditions, the sewage and the feces all over the place and others are saying there were some altercations on board when people were hoarding food, competing with each other for

outlets to charge their phones and things like that. there were fights that broke out on board but all of them, almost to a person, said that members of the crew did a great job in trying to mitigate a lot of that, trying to keep order on the vessel, trying to get food and water to everybody who needed it and trying to keep the place clean, although that was almost impossible. brooke? >> brian todd, thank you. i want to pass along news we have just confirmed here at cnn, so as if being sort of stranded on this cruise ship for five days wasn't bad enough, one of these motor coaches, these buss that carnival apparently rented to get these passengers either to new orleans or texas, it broke down, it broke down just about 35 miles west of us here in mobile, and so apparently they had to sit there on the roads for about an hour and a half before finally getting to new orleans. whoo! let's talk about the conditions with two passengers who have been through a similar deal, lenora chavez and david zambrano went on "splendor" in 2010,

remember that, engine fire, ship lost power, had to be towed back to port, very similar to the carnival "triumph." lenore and david good morning to you. >> good morning. >> remind us all of the nitty gritty details that you two had to endure in 2010. i remember i interviewed you back then. >> yes, yes, i remember. it's exactly the same thing, like looking in a mirror. we were just actually talking about that, the exact same scenario, engine fire, no food, people hoarding food, you know, fighting just to get the only outlet on the ship, just to use your phone. it was just the same thing. >> and the problems with the restroom, having to go to the bathroom and not knowing where to go, and just hearing the news about this cruise ship which he and i were saying wow that's an upgrade, they get to use bags. we didn't have bags so it was terrible the conditions on that ship. >> the infamous red bags.

>> yes. >> that's sort of the one big difference. does it appear that carnival learned anything from 2010 to today? >> i don't think so. i think it sounds a lot like the same thing we heard when we were on the ship. at the end when we were getting ready to get off i remember the ceo came on board and was apologizing to everybody, stood in the lobby, shook everybody's hand, shook my hand and we talked a little bit and a lot of the sound bites he was saying were the same thing he's saying now. >> it's like deja vu. >> i wanted to ask you, because this is something that boggles i think a lot of people's minds, similar to your cruise, carnival offering these 500 bucks, reimburses for expenses on the cruise, giving them the refund, sending them home, giving them a free cruise. they offered you similar make goods in 2010, you took the free cruise after everything you went through. why'd do you it and how was it? >> well, i wanted to do it

because that was my first time ever being on a ship, and what a terrible experience so i wanted to try and have the full experience, so we said let's try again, and boarding that ship, we felt anxiety, and we went around through the whole ship, replaying the whole thing in our mind. >> it was really interesting because they actually put us in the room right next to the room where we actually were the first time and on the same floor, one room over, and like she said, we went through the ship and just kept looking at everything saying this is where this happened, this is where this happened, and but we were so determined just to go on our trip that we wanted to go to the mexican riviera and we didn't get the chance to, so this was our time, so we took it. >> but we won't go again. >> lenora chavez, do you want to

go again or -- >> no, not after hearing this, we will not go again. >> they're finished with cruising. sounds like a lot of people in mobile are finished with cruising. it's a fairly bulletproof vacation. sending it back to you in new york, david berman. social media, almost nothing goes unreported and that's the case with this carnival nightmare. christine romans has the details on how this all played out online. >> it did. the pictures started following in immediately, twitter, facebook, cnn's ireport and we heard the horror story, many of them on twitter, hsh hsh stillwait, hsh hsh wanttobehome. this one, supplies being dropped off, you can see the big wide shot, tent city there, the infamous red bags used for

waste, posting this "our balcony outhouse, excited for working toilets. eager to say good-bye to the ship "r.i.p. triumph." one passenger was looking for chocolate and another valentine's day making a heart out of life vests and shooting the picture in the middle. it was interesting for a long time they couldn't get cell reception so we knew there'd be spurts of communication from inside of the ship and a lot of the people the first thing they did uploaded their pictures and videos. on wall street stock futures indicate a lower open, concerns about the economy keeping the dow from reaching its all-time high but burger king shares are up 6% in premarket trading, that's a big move for one morning. the company's quarterly earnings almost doubled but not because they're selling more burgers. it's because they're cutting expenses. airbus is ditching plans to use lithium ion batteries in the a-350 plane, the one used in boeing's dreamliners, all of the

dreamliners are grounded after a series of electrical issues. investigators have not figured out the primary cause of that problem but airbus is not taking any chances so more on the dreamliner drama there. there's a lot of other news going on right now, the meteor shower in russia we told you about, if it isn't enough there is an asteroid headed to earth at this hour. scientists are sure they say this one will not hit us, the 150-foot-wide space rock known as 2012da14 is expected to come within 17,000 miles of our planet this afternoon. the space rock will not be visible to the naked eye, the best chance to see it with a te scloep at telescope at 2:44 eastern time when it travels 18,000 miles per hour over the indian ocean. mandatory budget cuts set to kick in march 1st would force the state department to slash spending by more than $2 billion this year, according to new secretary of state john kerry,

sending a letter to the senate appropriations committee worning sequestration will hurt america's ability to for our projection overseas and thousands serving abroad. a city mayor losing nearly $1 billion at a casino. federal prosecutors say former san diego mayor maureen o'connor is destitute after gambling in california and las vegas. she admitted to using millions of dollars her late husband robert peterson earmarked for charity. the 66-year-old o'connor agreed to pay $2 million in restitution and she will undergo counseling. just after valentine's day, love letters from lbj. his presidential library released ones he wrote to claudia taylor in 194. in one letter he pops the question "miss taylor," now known better as lady bird, she eventually said yes. they had met online a few days before that. >> they didn't meet online.

>> they're really romantic, these are really, really romantic letters worth checking, worth looking at, really good stuff from lbj. he's made a string of movies a hit to the box office and very, very big at award shows. now mogul harvey weinstein has a movie "escape from planet earth" joining us with a preview next. my mother made the best toffee in the world.

it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

so it is oscar season and

the man who seems like he's in charge of the oscars, harvey weinstein, has been picking great films for a long, long time and he can promote them and sell them like no one else. his new film is an animated sci-fi adventure featuring funny aliens trapped on earth, called "escape from planet earth" features the voices of brendan frazier, sarah jels ka parker, ricky gervais, jessica al ba and many others. >> you can't do this. i know my rights. >> hey, hi there, roomie. are you finished with the toilet? >> huh? eww! >> joining us is producer harvey weinstein. you made a lot of movies but this is the first animated film you've ever made. >> i've acquired a couple of animated movies like "hoodwinked" but this is the first time beginning to end, developing the script, working in the studio and this is not

easy. this is two and a half years of my life. >> why did do you that? >> i did it for the challenge because i know what john la lassiter and jeffrey katzenburg does. the aliens are trapped in this prison, the american general is taking advantage of them and they said guys why don't we tweak all these guys and say the alien aliens in computer generation, not john lassiter, it has a grumpy picture of john and we tweet lara and my pals from google and i tweaked zuckerberg at facebook and say the social networking was invented by the aliens, it's probably true. >> are the aliens better to deal with on the set than real actors? >> i thought in this case they were, and a little bit more, you know, zuckerberg and mark zuckerberg and you know, those guys from google, the aliens just, they do their work and they don't complain. >> you're going after zuckerberg and the google guys you really

are as brave as they say. >> i am and i think all of those guys will have a good sense of humor. there's inside jokes for the parents, but it's a movie for kids. as a father of four daughters, i have daughters from 17 to 2 1/2, i wanted to make a movie where my girls could see the movie. it's hard to get the girls to go to "kill bill" or "jengo." they see it anyhow. >> "squ you were known for prom your films, do you have a favorite? >> i can't have any favorites, but you know i will say that i think quentin tarantino has written the best screen play of the year, won the golden globe, the bata. bob de niro hasn't won an oscar in 30 years there's great opportunities on our films but all of the films are good "lincoln" "argo." >> jennifer lawrence thank you for killing whoever you had to

kill to help her win the golden globe. how do you get this reputation? >> every year each one of the actors or actresses try to top what they say. when meryl streep said we were told to thank our agent and god, and whatever, which is what they tell them to say at the golden globes. she said, i'd like to thank kevin uane and harvey weinstein, aka god. four hours ago i was sitting in a morning talk show with a dog relieving himself on my leg on national television. i don't think i was god and i proved it to the world that i definitely wasn't but they love it. they had each one tops each other and makes these terrible jokes about me. i'm a good sportsman about it. >> you won for "the artist" and of course "the king's speech." >> if "silver linings" wins this year it will be a great upset in

history. i go z "good will hunting" and i never is should have hired ben affleck or matt damon, i regret that decision. >> "argo" and ben affleck snubbed for best director but "argo" sweeping up the awards. >> he made a hell of a great movie and george clooney and grant heseloff are hell of a great producers. if they win i couldn't be more proud of those guys. they'll probably have to come in second again. >> how does a snub happen like that for best director? >> i have no idea. each group votes for a group but it's turned out to be, it's turned out to be, you know, it's brought great emphasis to a fantastic movie which "argo" is and "lincoln" is a great movie. >> all of them are really good. >> too many good movies, what a mistake. >> harvey weinstein. >> "escape from planet earth" next year's oscar winner.

what do you think? >> i have to see it first, i don't know. >> hopefully you can help us all win oscars. >> i can put your voices in "escape from planet earth." >> we have a deal, just made a partnership right there, like sundance here on the cnn set. we'll be back after this. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesn't require routine blood monitoring. like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afib-related stroke. there is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed.

no routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. new zealand! xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. and with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems.

ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com.

you're looking at live pictures from a parking lot in galveston, texas, those buses are finally arriving back in the parking lot where they parked their cars in long-term parking before boardg the ship. the only thing is it's several days later, and a lot fewer showers after they originally suspected those people finally getting back to galveston, finally getting back to their cars where they will be driving home soon and our best wishes to all of them after all they've been through. the other three big stories we're following this morning, a spectacular and dangerous meteor shower in russia, injuring at least 500 people. most of the injuries caused by

broken glass. as if that is not enough there is an asteroid heading toward earth at this hour. scientists say the 150-foot wide space rock will not hit us. it will come within about 17,000 miles of our planet this afternoon, no threat. it will not be visible to the naked eye. the best chance to see it with a telescope around 2:44 eastern time. new images of blade runner olympian oscar pistorius breaking down in a south african courtroom today. we learned he will be charged with premeditated murder in the death of his girlfriend model reeva steenkamp. he says is he going to fight this charge. bail hearing for pistorius has been postponed until next tuesday. he will remain in custody until then. we will have continuing coverage of all these very, very big stories right here on cnn today. "starting point" is back in just a moment.

dad: you'll be fine, ok? girl: ok. dad: you look so pretty. ♪ i'm overprotective. that's why i got a subaru. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. many cereals say they're good for your heart, but did you know there's a cereal that's recommended by doctors? it's post shredded wheat. recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart disease. post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient: one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. try adding fruit for more health benefits and more taste in your bowl. it's the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. try post shredded wheat. this has been medifacts for post shredded wheat.

i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. with chantix and with the support system it worked.

it worked for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. thanks for joining us on this busy morning. coming up monday, quvenzhane walis and alison brie,